Some of our brothers and sisters have been saved from such traumatic circumstances that hope and a future seemed beyond possibility; such deep depression and anguish from years of incest or physical abuse and terror, that every shred of hope has been stripped from them. They fear the future, others and most of all God. Their minds have been terrorized for years, their childhood stolen and optimism crushed. There are some preachers that lived through that, and minister to victims with soothing words of Christ's hope and joy, and speak little of hell and punishment. These men have their place. It is the first step.

  "It's no great thing to be able to talk with those that are good and meek, for this is naturally pleasing to all. And all of us would willingly have peace and love for those that best agree with us. 
But to live peacefully with those that are harsh and perverse, or disorderly, or such as oppose us, now that is a great grace, and highly commendable and manly. Some there are that keep themselves in peace and also have peace with others. But there are some that are neither at peace within themselves, nor allow others to be in peace; they are troublesome to others, but always more troublesome to themselves." Thomas A. Kempis.

 
 The meaning of "Pray without ceasing" was asked of a girl and she replied, "Well, sir, when I first open my eyes in the morning  I pray, Lord, open the eyes of my understanding; and while I am dressing I pray that I may be clothed with  the robe of righteousness; and when I wash I ask for the washing of regeneration; and as I begin to work I pray that I may have strength equal to my day; when I kindle up the fire I pray that God's work may revive in my soul; and as I sweep out the house I pray that my heart may be cleansed from all its impurities; and while preparing breakfast I desire to be fed with the sincere mild of the Word." Everything I do furnishes me with a thought for prayer.' 
From "The Beautiful Tree of Life." 

 I posted this on a Christian web-site today, partly because the question and thoughts that struck me are interesting; but also because I knew it would be controversial and, frankly, kind of an experiment to see how brothers would react. Here's the post, then I'll share some of the comments. 

"Does God fear anything? To answer that I think we have to consider what are the greatest fears of an earthly parent? Surely the harm of their children! Oh that our children are spared from the destructive enticements of the world! Its addictions and lusts; its violent and criminal actions; the seductive allurements of the adulterous tempter whether in body or electronic image; straying from the faith that is able to save their souls! Yes, these are the greatest fears of a parent, and they are also the Fears of God. To learn the fears of God we need but look at our own love for our children."

So here are some of the negative responses, and actually the positive were 4 to 1 in favor, and some great discussions arose, but not with all. 

"What in the world is wrong with you? This is off the chart stupidity bordering on the demonic. God fears nothing or no one. If I were you, I'd be on my knees asking for His forgiveness right now."

"It's the chastisement of God you should be concerned about."

"This is blasphemy"

"Nonsense... If you want to know about God... Read the Bible. Don’t import your “parenting” human needs."

"Quit acting like you're 15 yrs old and own up to what you have done."

"Wrong. Our human fear is largely built upon our very limited knowledge and/or our non-sovereignty. You blaspheme when you ascribe to Almighty God the weakness and foibles of man. Repent."

Needless to say, we have a way to go before we are ready to "win the world for Christ."

  I led a young woman from the United Kingdom to the Lord today. Not an easy task because she is a "Futa" (a girl that has a vagina and a penis. She can also have testicles but not always. Just because the girl has a penis DOSE NOT mean it is homosexual related.) We chatted for over an hour and I will share parts of it with you because her concerns were.... you judge. -

In part she said, "I need peace, what does the bible say about girls like me?.. i am worried that he hates me. why did he make me a futa if i get bullied for it and it causes me such pain to be bullied." I encouraged her to seek the Lord of course and she said - "i am apprehensive because i have heard people around that sphere have issues with people like me in the past, but i'm not sure. i don't want to try to become part of a community that may think awful things of me, or may not see me as a real woman because of my being a futa, or whatever, do you understand my apprehension? Of course I knew exactly what she meant and I continued to tell her about the Love of Jesus, and she responded, " i am still worried about what i have seen in the past.. why did he make me like this.. i just hope god and also the followers of this don't hate me for being a futa, that's my main concern given i don't want that awful barbaric surgery to change it.. other than that i am all open to this." Man! What a lot of stuff I had to overcome! that had nothing to do with Christ, His love and salvation. I had to encourage her to seek the Lord without going to church and that as God reveals Himself to her she will know where to go, or if to go. Now this is just a snippet of an hour and a half conversation.

"Temptation is like a knife, that may cut the meat or the throat of a man; it may be his food or his poison; his exercise or his destruction." John Owen.

 Here is a picture of two of the volunteers at the Union Gospel Mission; the older man is Curtis; he is articulate, has a commanding presence, (often needed in mission work,) and he works tirelessly in many capacities at the mission. The other man is "Mikey" he is inarticulate, he is wheel chair bound and nearly immobile; he struggles with mental challenges as well. But Mikey does simple tasks like filling the lunch sacks for the homeless. Well done faithful servants! There is room for every worker in Christ's kingdom whether we have one talent or ten.  

At the Gym yesterday, I struck up a conversation with a young woman, 25ish, who commonly works out when I do and we have never spoken but smile occasionally. In conversation I learned she was part of the LGBTQ community. With a little more conversation she revealed she was brutally traumatized in childhood through abuse and she was so candid about her hopelessness and depression that my heart went out to her. I have some excellent resources for Complex trauma recovery and I told her about one. She asked me if the lady was white; I said yes, then she told me she wouldn't listen to anything a white woman had to say. She said she hates white women, and she said it with such venom pouring from her mouth I was startled. I said, "but I'm white as one can be." She said she didn't feel that way about men, although it left me suspicious. She told me she converses with only people of color (and I thought she was white?) and never talks or reads anything by white women. I explained my work on a hotline and how much I've learned about childhood trauma and it shouldn't matter what color truth comes packaged in and I feared she was being racist. That triggered a full on assault and she had her definition of racism, which only included the White patriarchy. She was so thoroughly indoctrinated that she was absolutely blind from reason and there was absolutely no getting through to her and she left in anger. Man! I have never seen such hate openly displayed and I realized how deeply she was indoctrinated by the LGBTQ community. I fear there is a new racism, and it is directed at whites with a greater wrath and vengeance than anything I've ever experienced. I've watched as some Christians rage against the LGBTQ community, but it's nothing compared to what was brewing in her breast! It saddened me greatly and I couldn't help but think we, as Christians, have spawned this. I share this, not to cause further division, on the contrary, but as a caution and encouragement for us to always honor all and the Lord's bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged, with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will." 2 Tim. 2:24

I prayed about what to do, if anything at all, with this young woman; so I decided to give her a book by Psychiatrist Judith Herman, who taught for thirty years at Harvard and is the leading doctor in her field of trauma recovery. But I feared because she was a woman that the gal would reject it. So I did a search on the doctor to try and find her ethnicity. But I could not; I went to Wikipedia; did an Internet search, looked for bios on her, but all I could get was, "American." So, just in case she rejected it I got my second best book and a man authors it. Then as a final backup plan, I brought the pamphlet I wrote drawing from all those I've read. Lastly, I wrote a half page bio on myself listing some of the major traumas and hurdles I've had to overcome. I enlisted the prayers from others and felt a peace about it.

So, today I went to the gym to see if she was there. When I first entered the gym she was in the very front isolated from everyone and just standing there. So I engaged her and we ended up in a thirty-minute conversation where she appreciatively took all the resources I brought! I told her that when she shared with me the other day about her abusive past, that I sensed a deep sorrow in her and I sensed she has considered suicide many times. When I said that she immediately broke into tears. I comforted her and encouraged her and said, "That's why it is so important to me that you get information that can help you find healing." The Lord developed a connection between us and I left in awe of God's intervention and love. Mercy, He loves the downcast!!!!!

  I think an important application of 1 Cor. 12:22-27 is to recognize that the weaker members referred to are those struggling with childhood trauma, abuse, sexual assault and domestic violence: resulting in depression, anger, risky behavior, addiction and often homelessness. When helping the homeless and destitute, you find many are Christians, the same is true in the jails and prisons.

Here's the passage - 

1 Corinthians 12: 22-26 "No, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are actually very important. And the parts that we think are not worth very much are the parts we give the most care to. And we give special care to the parts of the body that we don’t want to show. The more honorable parts don’t need this special care. But God put the body together and gave more honor to the parts that need it. God did this so that our body would not be divided. God wanted the different parts to care the same for each other. If one part of the body suffers, then all the other parts suffer with it. Or if one part is honored, then all the other parts share its honor."